Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Browsing Around the Lot, Part 2

In my perusings of back issues of The Sporting News, I often encounter tidbits that I believe are worth sharing, but that are not of sufficient length to stand alone as a blog posting.

I'm going to present them, from time to time, in trivia compilations (I presented the first on Sept. 14).

. When a former colleague of mine did similar columns, he called it "browsing around the lot." hence my title.

* * *

Buzzy Wares, long-time St. Louis Cardinals coach, was left
behind in Montgomery, Ala., by the St. Louis Browns in payment for the Browns’
use of the Rebels’ facilities during spring training.

Wares hit .275 for Montgomery that season, and was called up
the Browns in 1913.

* * *

Buddy Blattner was a world-class ping pong champion before
he became an infielder in the National League (1942-49).

In high school Blattner won the St. Louis District table
tennis championship. In 1936-37 he was the Missouri state champion in singles
and doubles. Just before the outbreak of World War II he toured Europe as part
of the U.S. table tennis team, participating in tournaments in London, Vienna
and Prague.

* * *

1940s Dodgers teammates Pete Reiser and Pee Wee Reese had
“boring” names when their surnames were rendered in American Morse code by
telegraph operators working the games . . . they were all “dots,” no “dashes.”

R . ..

E .

E .

S ...

E .

R . ..

E .

I ..

S ...

E .

R . ..

* * *

In 1962, L.A. Angels outfielder Ken Hunt became stepfather
to a budding actor and future child star when he married Patty Lilley. She was
the mother of Patrick Alan Caples, who became famous as Eddie Munster on the
1964-66 CBS-TV show The Munsters.

Hunt appeared in a 1965 episode of the show, Herman the Rookie. He played an L.A.
Dodgers catcher who was supposed to warm up Herman Munster but was scared off
the field by the big guy’s fastball speed.

For clarity, this Ken Hunt was Ken L. Hunt. Ken R. Hunt was
also a major leaguer, pitching for the
Cincinnati Reds in 1961. Each appeared in the 1962 Topps set.

Butch Patrick by the way, is also a collector of
1960s-1970s pop culture memorabilia, specializing in items associated with the
Beatles.

* * *

In the 1965 All-Star Game, the champion managers of the
previous season did not manage the AL and NL squads. Johnny Keane who had won
the World Series with the Cardinals had been fired and had joined the Yankees
as 1965 manager. Yogi Berra, who had been skipper of the AL champion Yankees in
1964, had been fired as was picked up by the Mets as a coach.

For the 1965 All-Star contest, the team were managed by the
skippers who had come in #2 the previous season; Al Lopez of the White Sox and
Gene Mauch of the Phillies.

Not only weren’t the World Series managers of the previous
year on the All-Star teams, but not a single member of either the 1964 Yankees
or Cardinals had been picked as an A-S starter.

* * *

Washington Senators pitcher Jim Duckworth had a real fear of
flying, avoiding air travel whenever he could. In an effort to ease his
anxiety, the team paid for him to take flying lessons in the 1964-65 off-season
and he earned his pilot’s license.

While Duckworth never appeared on a Topps card during his
career (1963-66), he has two cards in the 1978 TCMA “The 1960’s” set. Both
cards are portraits in a Senators uniform. Card #23 has on back only height,
weight, etc. Card #151 adds a paragraph of biographical information.

* * *

Ed Rakow (Dodgers 1960, K.C. A’s 1961-63, Tigers 1964-65)
once lost his job to Johnny Unitas. Rakow was the quarterback and defensive end
for the Bloomfield Rams, a semi-pro football team in Pittsburgh in 1955.

The following season, after Unitas was cut by the Steelers
and joined Bloomfield, Rakow was relegated to defensive end, where he earned $5
a game until his hand was stepped on an broken while making a tackle.

In 1957, the Dodgers signed Rakow out of a semi-pro league
and he was assigned to Class C Reno. After four years and a 55-38 record in the
Dodgers’ system, he was called up to Los Angeles.

* * *

With the Seattle Rainiers in 1963, Bob Heffner was the
starter in the night game of the season home-opener double header. In the first
inning, three hits, an error and a walk gave the Denver Bears two runs, with
one out and the bases full. The fireballer then retired the last 26 Bears’
batters in order for a 4-2 victory.

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About Me

I have been a baseball card (and other bubblegum cards) collector since the age of three. I am the former editor and publisher of the sportscards and memorabilia periodicals and books at Krause Publications (SCD, et al). I am the former editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.